5 minutes with ... Jeremy Ring

As a 24-year-old, he opened the first East Coast office of Yahoo in his New York City apartment.

What did he learn at Yahoo? “Hiring the right people. Raising the capital needed to grow the company quickly and building a brand.”

After nine years at Yahoo, he and his wife moved to Florida in 2001. His latest venture is Vivana doing business as Mercurian LLC, a care management and collaboration service used by parents of children with behavioral conditions.

Ring, 42, sponsored legislation in 2007 creating the Florida Institute for Commercialization of Public Research, meant to stimulate growth of science and tech firms. One of the institute programs is the $8.5 million Seed Capital Accelerator Program, which is expected to run out of money in the spring, but Ring plans to ask the state to add $30 million to the fund. “As businesses grow, the service industry starts to thrive,” he said, “and that means more disposable money in the state.”

What another $30 million for the Seed Capital Accelerator Fund would mean for Florida: It’s part of an ecosystem that leads to further investment. We need the whole ecosystem. One part we’re missing is the seed fund. It allows innovation to get off the ground. You cannot prove your model or build your business without capital. It would allow validation of your ability to commercialize your product.

The challenge in getting this through the Legislature: Budget constraints. But we have to create an environment where business will grow. When businesses grow, they will hire.

Biggest challenge facing startup firms: Lack of capital and lack of experience from some of the innovators. A great idea doesn’t always translate into a great business.

Why I’m involved in this effort: When I first moved to Florida, we had a 20th century service-based economy and didn’t have the system in place to create 21st century technology companies. I saw a need and thought I had the experience to help with the commercialization of research centers,